Ali gets his teeth cleaned!

This is Ali. (He is a very distinguished cat.) He was told he needed a dental cleaning by Dr. Carey. His blood work results all came back normal from his Wellness visit on February 10, 2009(see blog on that date). (He is very overweight so his "mom" was very glad he did not prove to be diabetic!)

First he was checked in by a registered veterinary technician (RVT). Our hospital has 5 of those on staff! Then he was examined again by Dr. Carey to make sure that he checked out okay for his anesthesia.
After that exam he was given some pre-meds
by Dr. Carey's surgical technician team. All our doctors (we have 7!)have at least 2 RVT's that work with them on their surgery days. Dr. Carey's surgery day is Wednesday. Pre-surgical medications help with pain, inflammation, and help to "take the edge off" while a patient is waiting for a procedure. Ali was very good and the pre-med's didn't bother him at all. This is Ali with his RVT, Tammy.

He is ready for his anesthesia so he is given an IV dose of anesthetic drugs that make him sleep for about 5 minutes. This gives us enough time to intubate him so we can hook him up to a gas anesthetic machine that will keep him asleep until we turn the gas off and wake him up.
During this time he is on a heating pad, he is on a respiratory monitor, and he is hooked up to a blood pressure monitor. If their pressures get to low (as Ali's started to) or to high we adjust their gas levels and/or fluids to help with their blood pressure. There are other steps we take if we continue to get abnormal readings. We take very good care of our patients! His teeth are cleaned, probed for pockets, rinsed with an oral hygiene rinse and fluoride given.
If we would of found any abnormalities then we would of x-rayed and or pulled any necessary teeth that need to come out. Some animals come in and their teeth are so bad that they actually feel better immediately after their procedure. In fact, we once had a twenty year old cat that was not eating and pawing at it's mouth. We removed some nasty teeth and the cat ate that night!

Here are Ali's before and after pictures, taken while he is still intubated.

Almost all our patients go home the same day after surgery or dentistry. There a few exceptions such as major surgeries or pets that have extensive dental work done. Ali went home the same evening and is feeling great.

Rudy & his family thanks us!

James, Denise & Rudy moved to Ohio in 2004. We were really sad to see them go! Recently, their little miniature schnauzer Rudolph was diagnosed with kidney disease by their veterinarian in Ohio.

Dr. Carey was Rudy's veterinarian from 1999-2004. Rudy's owners wanted a 2nd opinion on his condition so they telephoned Dr. Carey &; he spent several minutes discussing Rudy's treatment plan with them.

We received this really nice Thank You card in the mail a few weeks later! We are always sad to lose any of our patients and Dr. Carey was really happy that they remembered him and he was more than happy to help!

Note: the above posting was on 3/23/09- We are very sorry & saddened to report as of today 3/25/09 that we received another nice letter from Jim and Denise and Rudy did not win his fight with kidney disease and has recently passed away.

The Wonder of Dogs

This video will really tug at your heart! (Make sure your sound is on)
(I know I'll have to find some good cat videos to share! )
If you have trouble viewing this video please click here http://bluespringsanimalhospital.com/single_pages/video_help.html

Click on photo to read

A Blog by Lincoln

Hi. My name is Lincoln. I am a dog and I was named after "the" Abraham Lincoln, our country's 16th president. My mom thinks I'm the greatest. I try to live by Mr. Lincoln's standards so I too believe, "Whatever you are, be a good one."

I found the coolest thing the other day.


It was so beautiful that I just wanted to eat it up! So I did. I figured I would start my own collection and the best way for a dog to hold on to something is to eat it! I wanted to be a good collector so I didn't tell my mom as she doesn't like for me to eat anything other than my food or treats. It is more fun to be adventurous, I think! Besides, as Abe would say, "I fear explanations explanatory of things explained."


I got a belly ache and pretty soon I was not able to keep the chicken that I ingested (without my good mother knowing) down. The throwing up scared my mom & she was worried about chicken bones so she took me to see Dr. Carey.

He is a great doctor and an even better friend. He always pats me on the head and sometimes he even gives me a kiss! As my namesake would say, " The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." Dr. Carey talked my condition over with my mom and they decided it would be best to take a picture of my tummy. That is called an x-ray. It didn't hurt at all and pretty soon they could see my treasure I was hiding in there!

They really didn't know what it was and of course I wasn't going to tell them! I wanted to keep it for my own collection. But, my tummy was starting to hurt something awful, so I thought it would be best to let them have my first marble after all, and besides, I kinda forgot it was in there anyway.


Dr. Carey decided that they could do surgery right away. Besides, Mr. Lincoln would say, "Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today." They made an incision in my tummy that looks like this.... I was asleep the whole time. Dr. Carey told my Mom that is called anesthesia. My surgery didn't take long and pretty soon Dr. Carey gave my Mom the marble that I swallowed.

I don't know if it's worth any money but I heard my Mom say,"that was one expensive marble!" I wonder how much people pay for marbles, anyway? I think it made her happy that I was okay and I was happy that my Mom is going to keep my marble for me (high on a shelf, she said!). Abe says, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." I believe that & my mind says be happy always!

Of course I, like Lincoln say, "Everything I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother".

And "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time." So, as I make my speedy recovery I'll be planning my next great adventure!

Love & happiness (and lots of slobbery kisses),

Lincoln

Preparing Your Home For an Emergency

As storm season approaches it's time to prepare your household for an emergency. The likelihood of an emergency in Missouri is great and if you can prepare now it will help reduce stress for the entire household later. We face tornadoes, power outages, fires, floods, storms, or maybe someday even something like a terrorist attack or pandemic flu. The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services ( http://www.dhss.mo.gov/ )is partnering with the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association to help increase awareness across the state. They have created the Ready in 3 to help families create steps to plan & prepare. They have asked us to help get the word out.

Go to www.dhss.mo.gov/Ready_in_3 for more information.

What are some ways you can be prepared?

• Have a battery-powered radio nearby in the event of cell towers down or power outages.


• Make an emergency kit! Basic supplies should include water, canned food (or dried), a can opener, battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries, prescription medicine, first aid kit, duct tape. A car emergency kit should include a gallon of water, canned food and can opener, sleeping bag or blanket, money, first aid kit. Make sure if you have pets that you also include their food, water and medications that they would have to have. A leash or carrier would be great to keep in your safe room. See the Ready in 3 website for more ideas.


• Create a plan for two situations-staying home or leaving. Your entire family should know & understand your plan. Discuss how you will communicate with each other in difficult situations. Know your pet's hiding places so you can easily find him/her during an emergency. Exchange keys and disaster plans with a neighbor so they can evacuate your animals if you are not home when a disaster strikes.


• Have a safe room in your house and make sure all members of your family know to head there during an emergency. Make sure there is enough space for all your family members and pets. This may be a room that has to be sealed off in the event there are poisons in the air. Keep your emergency supplies in this room.


• Know where to go if you have to leave your home. Plan where the family will meet & plan different routes to get there. Bring your emergency supply kit with you. If you can, bring your pets but keep in mind many public shelters will not allow pets! Prepare a list of places that can accommodate your pet if you have to evacuate. Store the numbers to these places with your pet's emergency kit.


• Listen for information. STAY CALM!


• Identification is important for your pets. Make sure they either have microchip identification (AVID is available at our hospital), or a collar with a tag. Keep them up-to-date on vaccinations in the event they are stranded outside around other animals or end up in an animal shelter! Many pets were lost or displaced during hurricane Katrina, a microchip is the best bet you will be reunited with your beloved pet. This website was created just for the effort of reuniting pets with their families from that disaster. http://www.findkatrinapets.com/ Make sure you pet has identification.

Click on this link to view photo of animals that were kept safe during a disaster: http://www.fema.gov/kids/p_pets.htm

Click on this link to view a video called "Don't leave your pets behind when disaster strikes". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZEGyHaBOzk

Missouri Volunteer Veterinary Corps

I don't know how many people reading are aware that Missouri has a volunteer veterinary corp. Their mission is to help animal owners and officials in our communities protect the animals and public health in case of a disease outbreak or national disaster. The MVVC will be the first line of defense and response. Technicians and veterinarians will be activated quickly in their counties to serve as temporary federal personnel to help meet an emergency. Deployment during an emergency is strictly voluntary.

Two registered veterinary technicians at the Blue Springs Animal Hospital have volunteered as members of the MVVC and have been members now for over a year! They have completed the required emergency management training in the National Incident Management System and foreign animal and zoonotic diseases. They have also received their DuPont Biosecurity Kit
to use in the event of an animal emergency.

Emergencies may include outbreaks of exotic animal and poultry diseases or natural disasters as they affect animals, such as flood, fire or tornado (or hurricane in state's like New Orleans). Natural disasters are unpredictable and cannot be prevented and it is very unlikely that an outbreak of an exotic animal disease in Missouri can be prevented, so we must be prepared.

"The Corps" continues to grow as new volunteer veterinarians and technicians are added through out our state. We hope a disaster will not come our way but we are proud of our technicians that have volunteered to be called into duty if such an event were to take place! We have seen first hand their talents and we are confident they will be of much assistance!